Support for language variables

AEM Guides provides the feature to use language variables. You can use language variables to define localized strings in the PDF output or to localize any static text in the output templates. You can use CSS styles to localize the strings coming from a CSS.

Use language variables in the PDF output

You can use language variables to define a localized version of the out-of-the-box labels like Note, Caution, and Warning or static text in the PDF output. The variable name is the same for all languages but can have different values for the various languages. You can update the value for these variables in one or more languages, and then the localized value is automatically picked in the PDF output.

For example, you can have the following ways to present the label Note in the PDF output:

{width="550"}

A sample note in English, French, and German languages.

Types of language variables

AEM Guides supports two types of variables: Application and User variables.

Application variables

AEM Guides provides a set of predefined or out-of-the-box application variables. You can use these predefined variables to add information about a document specific to AEM Guides. For example, the chapter-number variable, if included in a page, displays the chapter number to which the page belongs. The author-label variable displays the name of the document author.

User variables

You can also create new language variables. For example, you can create a user variable Publisher for the label of the publisher for the document.

{width="550"}

Add and view the language variables for a selected language.

Add a new language variable

Export and import language variables

Experience Manager Guides provides the support to export and import the language variables present in the selected language. You can easily export all the language variables along with the defined values. This includes both application and user variables. Use the exported file to make the desired changes in the values or get them localized to other languages.

You can also import the XML file, which contains the language variables. Experience Manager Guides only imports the language variables that are already defined, including both application and user variables. It does not import any variables that are not already defined.

Export language variables

To export the language variables for a language, select the language from the dropdown and select Export {width="25"}.
It creates an XML file with the format language_variable_<ln> where <ln> is the code of the selected language. For example, language_variable_en.xml for English and language_variable_fr.xml for French.

NOTE

If you have any unsaved changes in the language variables, you cannot export them. Save the changes to view the enabled Export {width="25"} icon.

Import language variables

To import the language variables:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<variables>
<variable id="note-important">Important: </variable>
<variable id="note-caution">Avertir: </variable>
<variable id="image-with-text">Text and image &lt;img src=&quot;/content/dam/assets/images/image_with_text.png&quot; /&gt; </variable>
</variables>

The variables with the same ID are imported once you import the file. The values for the variables in the selected language are updated with those in the XML file. A message about the number of variables updated is displayed.

Options for a language variable

Hover over the variable to view the Options menu for it.

{width="550"}

Use the Options menu to delete, preview, or duplicate a language variable.

You can preview both application and user variables. To view how the variable’s value is displayed in the output, select Preview from the Options menu of the selected variable.
You can also choose to Delete or Duplicate the user variables. Deleting a variable from one language automatically deletes it from all languages.

Edit or revert the application variables

You can also edit the values for an application variable. Later, you can revert an application variable to the original value. Revert Variable {width="25"} appears for an application variable with a changed value.

Use language variables in the output templates

You should add language variables in your localized documents. You can insert these language variables within the page layout that appears across different pages in your localized documents. For example, you can add the language variable for the author-name that appears in the page layout’s header area (or any other part like the footer or body).

{width="550"}

The author and the brand name localized in the PDF output generated for the French language.

To insert a language variable like your copyright-label in the header area, perform the following steps:

{width="550"}

The copyright-label added in the header area.

Apply content style to language variables

Besides the value you assign to a language variable, you can also use HTML tags to display the variable value in specific formatting. For example, you can display the value of the publisher-label in bold.

Similarly, you can add language variables and format other fields listed in the Insert Fields feature of the page layouts. For more details on adding fields, view Add fields and metadata.

Localize the strings using CSS styles

Using CSS styles, you can also localize the strings used in Autonumber like Chapter, Section, Figure, and Table. As these strings come from CSS files, you cannot localize them using language variables. To localize these strings, you can create CSS styles for each language in which you want to localize them.
For example, you can use the following CSS to display the Chapter prefix and the corresponding number format in various languages.
For example, you can use the following CSS to display Chapter as Hoofdstuk in German and the chapter number in decimal format. While for Japanese, you can use the Japanese number format to show the chapter numbers in the TOC.

// for English
h1:before {
  counter-increment: h11;
  content: "Chapter " counter(h11, decimal)".";
}

// for German
:root:lang(de) h1:before {
  content: "Hoofdstuk " counter(h11, decimal)".";
}

// for Japanese
:root:lang(ja) h1:before {
  content: "章 " counter(h11, japanese-formal)".";
}

The following screenshots display the strings localized in German and Japanese PDF output .

{width="550"}

{width="550"}

Format the prefixes

Using CSS styles, you can also format the prefixes. For example, you can format the label Note to appear in red color in the PDF output of various languages.

.note .prefix-content
{
color: red;
}